One week after several well known Florida Gators gave their commitment to the inaugural Tim Tebow Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic, officials announced five NFL Pro Bowl players also will be participating. Adrian Peterson, Fred Taylor, Elvis Dumervil, David Garrard and Jason Taylor all have committed to take part in the unique celebrity pro-am May 7 at Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass, the weekend prior to THE PLAYERS Championship, to raise money for youth around the world. All net proceeds of the event will benefit The Tim Tebow Foundation and The First Tee.
The tournament will feature celebrities from the world of golf, entertainment and of course, football. The Tim Tebow Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic begins with a Friday, May 6, evening gala at the TPC Sawgrass Clubhouse, followed by a shotgun start golf tournament on Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass, Saturday, May 7, at 9 a.m. Parking lots and gates open at 7 a.m. for this tournament that will have something unique on each of the 18 holes including opportunities for the spectators to become involved.
“I am thrilled that several of the NFL’s top players are showing their support by attending and participating in this inaugural event,” said Tim Tebow. “Not only are Elvis Dumervil, Jason Taylor, Fred Taylor, David Garrard and Adrian Peterson all Pro Bowl caliber players, they are all great people who spend much of their time off the field giving back through various charities.”
Peterson and Taylor are the first two running backs to commit to the event. Peterson has been selected to the Pro Bowl each of the four years in which he has played in the NFL, including his rookie season in 2007 when he also won Offensive Rookie of the Year. Fred Taylor recently completed his 13th season in the NFL and ranks No. 15 in all-time rushing yards with 11,695.
Garrard joins Tim Tebow and Danny Wuerffel as quarterbacks who will be teeing it up. Garrard has now suited up for the Jacksonville Jaguars for nine seasons, the last four as the full-time starter. He took the Jaguars to the playoffs in 2007 during a season in which his quarterback rating was a lofty 102. In 2010, Garrard set the franchise record for most passing touchdowns in a season with 23. Garrard is also active in the community through the efforts of his foundation to raise awareness of Crohn’s disease, which he was diagnosed with in 2004, and breast cancer.
Garrard, Tebow and Wuerffel might not want to stand in the fairway for too long if they are playing in front of Elvis Dumervil and Jason Taylor. After all, Taylor and Dumervil have made a pretty good living teeing off on quarterbacks in their careers. Taylor has recorded 132.5 sacks in his 14-year NFL career – 12 of those with the Miami Dolphins – which ranks No. 1 of active players and No. 8 all-time. Taylor is a six-time Pro Bowler who was voted the NFL AP Defensive Player of the year in 2005 and the NFL Walter Peyton Man of the Year in 2007. Dumervil, a teammate of Tebow in 2010, was drafted in the fourth round by the Denver Broncos. In his rookie year, he recorded 8.5 sacks and followed with 12.5 sacks in 2007. In 2009, he led the NFL in sacks with 17 and was selected to his first Pro Bowl. Dumervil missed the 2010 season due to a torn pectoral muscle.
Tickets to the golf tournament are available to the public for $12.50 (for youth and adults) and can be purchased at www.PGATOUR.COM/theplayers. Limited opportunities to attend the gala or participate in the pro-am are still available by contacting Erik Dellenback, executive director of the Tim Tebow Foundation, at erik@timtebowfoundation.org.
